Celsius fall before rise

Calcutta was chilly with the mercury dipping to 12.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and is likely to be chillier with the Met office predicting a further Celsius slide in the next 24 hours.

“Thursday’s minimum temperature is likely to be 11 degrees Celsius but the mercury will rise thereafter because of a Western Disturbance,” said a senior official in the India Meteorological department, Calcutta.

The minimum temperature may rise by a degree or more on Friday and Saturday. “We expect a warm weekend with the minimum varying between 14 and 15 degrees, which would be a touch above normal,” said the official.

The Met department attributed the 2.8-degree fall in the minimum temperature in 24 hours from Tuesday’s 15.3 to reduced moisture content in the air.

“The drop in the humidity resulted in a stronger flow of the North Wind, which dragged down the mercury,” said the official.

The day’s maximum temperature was 24.1 degrees, two notches less than normal. The Met office says the maximum is likely to remain so for at least a couple of days.

“At the moment, the moisture content in the air over Calcutta is low. That is why we are feeling the sting of the northerly wind and the temperature is likely to dip till Thursday,” a weather scientist said.

“However, satellite pictures are already showing dense clouds over Jammu and Kashmir, the result of a western disturbance. This will lead to a rise in the night temperature in north India. Therefore, the cold winds blowing south-east from there would lose their sting and the temperature will rise in Calcutta and its adjoining areas,” he added.

Complaint

Jitendra Kumar Tiwari, a watchman at the old collectorate office in Howrah, has lodged a complaint accusing district magistrate Subhanjan Das of beating him up early on Wednesday.

Das denied the allegation and said he had only asked Tiwari to vacate the room that he was illegally occupying.